Due to the energy crises presently existing and the increasing price of fuel, the attention of engineers and inventors has been directed to solar heating and cooling systems. The solar collector and heat exchanger units are the very heart of any solar heating or cooling unit. If the apparatus is to be mounted on the roof of a building, and particularly on a home there are space limitations which must be accommodated. Thus, if the installation is too bulky and occupies too much space on the roof, it will not be acceptable to the public. If the units are unusually massive or heavy they are not susceptible of installation on presently existing buildings without making major structural changes to the building. The apparatus which is installed on a roof should be of compact thickness and occupy as small an area as possible to avoid an unsightly appearance.
Solar heating and cooling systems now available to the public are expensive and costly to install. The total costs attending their installation are so high as to discourage their acceptance. The present invention is founded on the belief that the system of this invention may be manufactured and installed at a price which will be acceptable to thousands of people who cannot now afford solar heating and cooling. In addition the operational cost will be a fraction of that of the conventional heating and cooling systems. One of the outstanding features of the instant system is that it may be installed in most existing houses or buildings without disrupting the present heating and/or cooling systems. It does not require that a new building or home must be constructed to accommodate it.
Know systems of this character are also notably lacking in an evaporator or cooling tower for cooling the liquid, usually water, which is used in the system and an underground storage tank over which the evaporator is mounted.